hip shooters

[Charlie Gonzales]

Since my recent trip with Dave Sellars I have been giving the hip shooter much more thought. Dave and his friend Bob were set up with two hips shooter each(solid bottoms in to hold water). It was nice because each had a different line set up, stretched out into the bottom of the shooters, ready to go. All they had to do was clip the shooter onto their belt when a new piece of water came up and they were ready to cast; no realing up and stretching out lines each time. And with the design of the shooter, the rod stores in them nicely(laying on top) when not in use.

[Tracy Chimenti]

I'm ordering one. For the last two years I've used a smaller plastic clothes hamper with 1-ich of water in it. Damn thing's too big.

[El Rey]

Would you please explain what is a Hip Shooter? Never heard of it before.

Thanks,
El Rey

[Darian]

The Hip Shooter is a product of Mangrove and is a line management device designed to fit on your belt. Looks to be made from closed cell foam rubber, is oval and about 15' to 18' in depth. The floor is perforated and will allow insertion of vertical pins (??) to inhibit tangling. The idea is to strip your line into this device when retrieving. Then your line will be tangle free when casting. It's available thru Kiene's shop. :D :D

This device was designed by Stan Pleskunas, a very innovative guy from the Bay Area. He's a frequent participant on Blanton's BB and seems to be available for answers to questions about the Hip Shooter and other "stuff" he's involved with. =D> =D>

[Charlie Gonzales]

heres a pic

http://www.kiene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11619

Dave says he uses the perforated bottom while wading or surf fishing, so it flushes the water, and a solid bottom in the boat so it holds water(doesnt need much).

[El Rey]

Thanks for the info. Appreciate the quick responses.

El Rey

[Ed Wahl]

Hmmm, two hip shooters with rod and line ready to cast. :-k

I can see how that would be pretty handy.

Charlie, you're just full of tips.
After that last time I fished with you I rigged up a sling across the bed of my truck inside the shell. With the rear cab windows open I can travel with my rods put together and ready to fish, and have my super cat and gear right underneath. I've made use of that little trick several times now.

Thanks dude.

Ed

[Dave Sellers]

Charlie,

I really like using the hip shooter but have to admit that I'm not impartial. Stan and I designed it together for use in the surf. It was very much a collaborative effort and a lot of time went in to it. We used all other designs and found them lacking so we set out to build new concept from a blank slate, basically tossing out all other ideas on the market. The idea for use in the boat came from Steve Cali who used his hip shooter during remote travel involving a float plane. The float plane was a factor as weight and space was limited and he hates mesh stripping baskets so he used his hip shooter and has used it in his boat at home ever since. The latest version has new spikes in it and really helps to virtually eliminate tangles, at least on the lines I use, at worst, tangles are rare.

I don't even think about switching rods any longer. I just pick up a different hip shooter and rod and start casting. After nearly two years of doing this, I take that situation fully for granted. I've had as many as six hip shooters with stripped out line for two anglers at the ready in my small boat. This requires organization but once you get your program down, it's not difficult and Bob and I could have done that in your boat as long as we kept the rods in the same place all the time.

The "each his own" factor is that some simply won't use a stripping basket, other prefer a tall solid basket or bucket while others still love leaf baskets or other devices. I've given up caring what anyone uses because I feel that once you lay it out there for people to consider, you just have to accept your ideas will work for some and not for others.......and that is fine. Regardless, the hip shooter, like almost all gear in fly fishing, takes some getting used to but it's the only basket I use now for both shore and boat used. The bottom line per your comments, for 100 bucks, you can get two and always have two rods ready to go and that is worth more to me than a 500 dollar fly rod or reel.

Dave

[GreggH]

After useing the Pleakunas stripping cans for years now I find the hip mounted baskets limit my striper stripping action. I have a long and fast, sometimes wild retrieve that I quickly fatigue if I have to limit or more importanly raise my rod and release point into the hip reciever. I will try to explain. At the end of my (striper strip) my line hand is level with my left knee. You can imagine how low the HS has to be in order for me to hit it. I have tried them and the modified RAISED release point (shoulders and elbows up) and the new rod angle causes fatigue. Just my 2 cents but I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. I love the Hip Shooter for shad and still water stuff that doesnt require that crazy striper strip. Also, the rods on standby with line ready to go in the unit is a fine idea.

[Dave Sellers]

Gregg,

If it's not comfortable or if you find it fatiguing and the tall bucket works better for you then, in my mind, there is absolutely no reason to use the Hip Shooter EXCEPT for having multiple rods rigged and ready. Something to try if you are inclined is to bring along the Hip Shooter and fill it with a stretched out alternate line and rod, then when you need it, clip it on your belt a little lower "gun slinger" style with the belt high opposite the Hip Shooter and low on the side of the Hip Shooter and then strip in a manner that is comfortable to you. You might find you get a much more free retrieve but regardless, check to see that even with a slightly restricted retrieve you find that you do or don't catch just as many fish. Often times, it's the slow steady retrieve that really kills the big fish regardless of the water temp.

Either way, I strip very fast into both the tall bucket and the Hip Shooter when I need to and don't find that I catch less fish with one over the other but agree with you that the strip needs to be less crazy with the Hip Shooter vs. the tall bucket and, with both of these devices, the strip is much more restricted than no bucket at all. If this definitely resulted in much less fish caught, I guess I wouldn't use the Hip Shooter or any bucket at all.

All this said, if you don't like using the Hip Shooter for striper fishing in the boat then by all means do not use it. It has to be fun or it's just not worth it.

Dave